SAN DIEGO (CNS / CBS 8) - A person of interest was identified by the California Highway Patrol in connection with the wounding of a man Monday on a San Diego freeway.
Enrique Ayon, 24, is the registered owner of the white 2006 Chevrolet Malibu involved in the case, but it's not clear yet if he was the one driving the vehicle during Monday's series of events.
Ayon was described as about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing 190 pounds. He is considered armed and dangerous, according to the California Highway Patrol news release.
A description of the car and its license plate, 5POM917, were posted on electronic signs on major freeways.
The suspect car was registered in Lancaster in northern Los Angeles County.
The car, carrying at least two men, had been involved in a hit-and-run collision on East San Ysidro Boulevard shortly before the shooting spree began, and it matched descriptions of the car involved in the firearm assaults, San Diego Police Department Lt. Darryl Hoover said.
One person was wounded when an assailant in a moving car opened fire on vehicles -- including an ambulance and a California Highway Patrol cruiser -- in four locations on Interstate 805 and Interstate 5, authorities reported.
The victim said there were two men in the car.
The seemingly random drive-by gunfire began about 10:30 a.m., starting on northbound Interstate 805 near East Plaza Boulevard in National City, according to San Diego police. At least one bullet hit a car in that assault, though no one was injured.
A short time later, a shooting on Interstate 805 at Mesa College Drive injured a 26-year-old Demetrous Miller.
"I heard a loud bang, when I heard it my whole leg went numb and I kinda like jumped up and I was kinda like, ah!," Miller explained in an exclusive interview with News 8 Monday afternoon.
He says he was driving northbound on Interstate 805 when he was about to switch into the fast lane as he passed the Murray Ridge Road exit.
"In my rear view mirror I see a white car," he recalls, "they swerve and get over in the fast lane so I stay where I'm at.
Just moments after the white car came up on his left and a shot rang out. The bullet entered his left thigh and then got lodged. At first Miller didn't know what was going on as his leg went numb from his groin to his knee.
"I feel the bottom of my thigh and there's blood everywhere and that's when I went into shock," he recalls.
After realizing he'd been shot Miller slowed and pulled into lanes three and four as he called 911 to report the fact he'd been shot. He says he told the dispatcher he was on his way to the hospital, but the dispatcher told him to pull off to the side of the road and wait for an ambulance. He eventually pulled over on the shoulder of the Mesa College exit.
While he was waiting for the ambulance he says he took off his shirt and applied pressure to the wound.
Emergency crews arrived a short time later and he was taken to the hospital.
"They found a little bullet fragment," Miller explains, "he didn't tell me what size it was, but it got lodged so they had to numb me up cut me open and pull it out.
Within the next 15 or so minutes, gunfire again erupted on Interstate 805 near state Route 163, where a CHP officer was assisting a motorist, and on northbound Interstate 5 in the area of Del Mar Heights Road, according to Hoover. An ambulance apparently was targeted in the latter shooting, he said.
No one was injured in those attacks.
The victims apparently had no communication with the assailant prior to the shootings.
"At this time, we have no information about any words being exchanged," Hoover said. "As we know at this time, it's just a stranger-on-stranger (crime)."
In the early afternoon, authorities shut down a roughly three-mile section of northbound Interstate 805, between Interstate 8 and Mesa College Drive, along with the freeway's northbound connector to state Route 163 so officers could walk the roadway and search for bullet casings and other evidence.
All the affected lanes were open again by shortly before 3 p.m., according to the CHP.
About a half-hour later, northbound Interstate 5 was blocked off between the Interstate 805 interchange and Del Mar Heights Road to allow for collection of any crime- scene evidence in that area. The stretch was fully open again by 5 p.m., the Highway Patrol reported.
Then, roughly 30 minutes later, northbound Interstate 805 was temporarily shut down at state Route 54 in National City to allow police to document the site of the first shooting.
This is the latest information. Read the latest story below.
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Northbound Interstate 805 at SR-54 has been reopened.
Northbound traffic on Interstate 5 from the merge to Del Mar Heights Road has reopened. Northbound Interstate 805 from Interstate 8 to Mesa College Drive has reopened.
This is the latest information. Read the latest story below.
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - One person was wounded Monday when an assailant in a moving car opened fire on vehicles -- including an ambulance and a California Highway Patrol cruiser -- in four locations on Interstate 805 and I-5, authorities reported.
The seemingly random drive-by gunfire began about 10:30 a.m., starting on northbound I-805 near East Plaza Boulevard in National City, according to San Diego police. At least one bullet hit a car in that assault, though no one was injured.
A short time later, a shooting on I-805 at Mesa College Drive injured a 26-year-old man, SDPD Lt. Darryl Hoover told reporters. Medics took him to a hospital for treatment of a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in his left thigh.
Within the next 15 or so minutes, gunfire again erupted on I-805 near State Route 163, where a CHP officer was assisting a motorist, and on northbound I-5 in the area of Del Mar Heights Road, according to Hoover. An ambulance apparently was targeted in the latter shooting, he said. No one was injured in those attacks.
The victims apparently had no communication with the assailant prior to the shootings.
"At this time, we have no information about any words being exchanged," Hoover said. "As we know at this time, it's just a stranger-on- stranger (crime)."
Investigators believe all of the gunfire likely came from inside a white 2005 or 2006 Chevrolet Malibu, California license plate number 5POM917, police said. That sedan, carrying at least two men, had been involved in a hit- and-run collision on East San Ysidro Boulevard shortly before the shooting spree began, and it matched descriptions of the car involved in the firearm assaults, the lieutenant said.
The suspect vehicle is registered to a Lancaster resident, according to police. Authorities are now searching for a white Chevy Malibu with the license plate: 5POM917. Police were advising anyone who sees this vehicle to call 911.
In the early afternoon, authorities shut down a roughly three-mile section of northbound I-805, between I-8 and Mesa College Drive, along with the freeway's northbound connector to SR-163 so officers could walk the roadway and search for bullet casings and other evidence.
All the affected lanes were open again by shortly before 3 p.m., according to the CHP.
About a half-hour later, northbound I-5 was blocked off between the I- 805 interchange and Del Mar Heights Road to allow for collection of any crime- scene evidence in that area. The stretch was fully open again by 5 p.m., the Highway Patrol reported.
Then, roughly 30 minutes later, northbound I-805 was temporarily shut down at SR-54 in National City to allow police to document the site of the first shooting.
THIS IS A STORY UPDATE. For an earlier story, read below.
SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - Police were investigating four separate shooting incidents on San Diego roadways Monday, one of which ended in the injury of a driver near Mesa College.
In the first incident, a driver reported shots fired at his vehicle after a hit-and-run while he was driving on northbound I-805 near Plaza Boulevard at about 10:30 a.m. There were no injuries reported.
In a second incident, a 26-year-old man driving a white Hyundai sedan was shot in the leg while on northbound I-805 just south of Mesa College. He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital with non life-threatening injuries shortly after emergency crews arrived.
A third possible shooting involving a CHP officer stopped on the right shoulder of northbound I-805 near highway 163.
In a fourth report, an ambulance may have also been fired upon while on northbound Interstate 5 near Del Mar Heights.
The suspect in the hit-and-run shooting was described as a Hispanic man in his 30s. In the injury shooting, witnesses reported seeing two black males firing a semi-automatic handgun, according to Lt. Darryl Hoover.
It was not known if words were exchanged prior to any of the shootings, Hoover said.
Authorities are now searching for a white Chevy Malibu with the license plate: 5POM917. Police were advising anyone who sees this vehicle to call 911.
As of late Monday morning, the northbound 805 offramp to Mesa College was closed during an investigation. There was no word on other closures.
